Surprise, surprise. There’s been another shift in the marketing and social media marketing world. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve already seen it pretty heavily in action other the past year or so. You’ve probably already purchased products based on it. What is it? Influencer Marketing. What does that mean? Well, influencer marketing is basically where brands take their products and team up with an “influencer” to demonstrate/sample/review their product. For instance, a monthly subscription box of makeup samples might team up with a YouTuber. That YouTuber would receive a free box, make a video where they use and try the products, and all of their followers would see the video. Very simple and extremely effective.

If you don’t have a twelve-year-old handy, who do you go to with technical questions? With so many of our devices and services connected today, it can be tricky to figure out who’s in charge of what. Here are some common problems, the probable causes and who to ask for help.

With the amount of time and effort we pour into marketing our businesses, you would think that we'd be more interested in keeping and reaching the people that are interested in our services/products vs those that aren't.  However, it seems like a lot of businesses are looking for big numbers.  More followers, more likes, and more sign ups.  Sure, there's power in numbers, but what if you're wasting valuable marketing dollars on people who don't care what you're selling?

Busy entrepreneurs say “Prove that wading through the Google Analytics of my website is worth my time.” Challenge accepted! Here are three real case studies from our clients on how they are using Analytics to improve their businesses.

Still giving Facebook hashtags a go?  Great! Assuming you're using them correctly... If you're using hashtags on Facebook, you have to remember that it's not the same platform as Twitter.  There are different rules that apply.  The same basic structure is set up though.  You type in a "#" symbol and then whatever single word or phrase without spaces that you want to use (sans symbols).  What else do you need to remember though?

"I'll make you Number One on Google!" You’re bound to have heard that promise before. In some ways being number one has never been more difficult to achieve. Search engine results have changed a lot and more change is on the horizon. Here’s what that means for you:

At this point, many businesses have taken the initiative to put themselves out there.  Businesses are reaching their customers like never before through websites, blogs, newsletters, and social media.  With what seems like 30 new social media platforms a minute, it can be difficult to decide which network is worth putting a big chunk of your time into and which might not need as close of an eye on it.

While everyone wants an insurance company to have a sizable and solid foundation, no one likes to work with a nameless and faceless organization. Brian Berce has been with Farmers Insurance since 1996. He already has a corporate web presence, but he wanted a personal website to help build relationships with people in his community.

His new website provides all the important details clients are looking for regarding their insurance questions while also giving Brian a blog platform to talk about local news and events. And of course he has a personable About page so folks can "meet" him on line.

Sprocket Websites is happy to help Brian introduce himself to new clients. If your business is similar, call us to talk about building a personal website for you.

The best way to be found online by prospective customers is to honestly and obviously tell search engines that you are the best result for the customer’s search. Don’t waste time trying to ferret out the latest SEO tricks. Instead, make sure you’ve completed these 5 first steps.